The Drudge Report was near first with news that a general had been killed in Afghanistan Tuesday. According to the Wall Street Journal, (WSJ) the attacker was a soldier of the Afghan military and not an imposter in an Afghan uniform as previously suggested. WSJ reported the gunman opened fire with a light machine gun and was himself killed in the attack.

U.S. Army photo

However, reports have not positively identified the assailant as more than "a lone gunman in Afghan military clothing" at this time. The Taliban has taken credit.

Additional information is now available that the 33-year career officer was Major General Harold J. Greene. He was serving his first Afghanistan deployment as the deputy general charged with command of the U.S. transition force in Afghanistan.

Greene praised others for his successes. The following is a reported quote, "In every job I had we got things done that I think made our Army better, and it was done by other people." Greene added, "All I did was try to pull people in the right direction and they went out and did great things."

The shooting occurred at the Afghanistan National Military Academy, described as "a largely secure facility where aspiring Afghan officers are trained under international supervision." The attack is considered an "insider attack."

Following the link to the ABC article, it was revealed the United States major general was killed plus an additional 14 soldiers were wounded, eight of whom were Americans. The general is the highest ranking member of the American military reported to have died in the Afghanistan war. Those reported as wounded in the gunfire were evacuated to a nearby hospital facility.

The first Drudge Report banner headline, all in capital red letters, read, "U.S. General killed by Afghan soldier." It turns out that Drudge was right to keep the original headline even though a later report questioned whether the killer may have been an imposter. That Drudge Report banner soon had two black stars added above it in recognition of the death of the two-star general and the banner link was switched from the New York Times, to an article by ABC.

The first New York Times article linked to by the Drudge Report in its banner before it was changed to ABC, indicated the shooter was thought to be an Afghan soldier. However, the Drudge Report banner was soon linked to an updated story by ABC in which doubts were raised about whether the shooter was an Afghan soldier or possibly someone outside of the Afghan military, posing in an American uniform.

Again, it has now been confirmed the killer was not an imposter. He was a soldier who hid in the bathroom. He opened fire on the general and 15 others.

Condemning the attack, Afghan President Hamid Karzai pointed out both Afghan and foreign soldiers were among those wounded. According to ABC, Karzai stated: "The soldiers were visiting the military academy to help with the buildup of Afghan security forces," adding his opinions that the attack was likely the work of "enemies who don't want to see Afghanistan have strong institutions."

President Obama, unlike Karzai, has not released a statement, although it was reported that he had been briefed. According to The New York Times, the atmosphere following the shooting was described as "tense" with fear of another attack causing foreign troops "to be on edge."

The Drudge Report is especially faithful about carrying updates in a story-board format of links as new information is filtered and breaks.

This article has been and will continue to be updated as additional information is available.

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Devonia Smith doesn't remember life before her passion for politics. Tucked away in her trove of political memorabilia, Devonia has a napkin from Air Force One (she hopes Reagan wiped his mouth on it). Her cat is affectionally named "Grizzly," after Sarah Palin and her dog is named "Ronnie," after Reagan. Contact Devonia at designdv@swbell.net